Copy-holder.



Unirse STATES ATENT OFFICE.

JAMES W. HARSHA, OF COLUMBUS, OHIO.

COPY-HOLDER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 662,193, dated November 20, 1900.

Application filed March 22, 1900. Serial No. 9,6 78` (No model.)

To @ZZ wtom/ it may concern.-

Beit known that I, JAMES W. HARSHA, a citizen of the United States, residing at Columbus, in the county of Franklin and State of Ohio, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Copy-Holders, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to stationery, and more especially to the class of devices under that general heading known as copy-holders; and the object of the same is to produce an improved construction of support for the rack, as well as an improved construction of gripping and line-indicating mechanism.

To this end the invention consists in the details of construction hereinafter more fully described and claimed and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein- Figure 1 is a side elevation of the support with its two arms detached and slightly separated at their pivot, the rack being turned slightly oblique, so as to show its back and to illustrate the shaft which supports the fingers. Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the rack, showing` the fingers and shaft. Fig. 3 is a sectional detail illustrating the bearing for the indicating-linger. Fig. 4 is a perspective detail of the stop at the lower end of the shaft. Fig. 5 is a perspective detail of the L-shaped member connecting the support and rack.

In the said drawings, 1 is a tubular upright having at its lower end two arms 3 and 4, of which the lowermost may be fixed and the uppermost adjustable when desired by having the opening 5 through it loosely embrace the upright, so that it bites thereon when canted. Through this upper arm takes a screw 6, swiveled in a boss 7 at the top of a plate 8, which coacts with the lower arm 4in clamping the edge of a table or the arm of a chair. The swivel is here shown as consisting of a screw 9 in the boss, whose tip enters a groove 10 in the thumb-screw 6. Obviously any other form of swivel could be employed and the arms 3 and 4 could be transposed, so as to bring the thumb-screw beneath the table o ut of sight. Telescoping into the upright 1 is a smaller upright 11, held adjustably therein by a screw 12, and at the upper end of the smaller upright is a pair of disks 13, pierced with a central eye 14.

21 is a horizontal tube having at one end is an L-shaped member (see Fig. 5) whose Q upright arm 31 tit-s looselyinto an eye 32 in the head 29 and preferably has a flange 33 resting thereon. The horizontal member 34 is forked and between the forks at 35 is pivoted a lug 36 at the back of a plate 37, which supports the rack described below. A set-screw 38 takes through one of the arms of said fork against the lug, so that when the .latter is turned on its pivot the set-screw may be used to hold it in the position to which it is adjusted.

rlhe rack comprises a fiat body 40, with a projecting footpiece 41 at its lower end, on which the copy rests, as is usual in devices of this character. Two L-shaped brackets 42 have their upright arms secured to the back of the body and their horizontal arms pierced for the reception of a shaft 43, having a knob or head 44 at its lower end, by which it may be oscillated, and a milled nut 45 screwed upon its upper end to hold it in place. Upon this shaft are fixed two sleeves 46, from which project the gripping-fingers 47. The latter usually stand over the margins at the head and foot of the page being copied and hold that page flat upon the rack. The shaft 43 is longitudinally grooved, as shown at 50, and within this groove slides a tongue (or it may be a pin) 51on the interior of a sleeve 56, from which projects forward past the edge ofthe rack a rigid slotted arm 58.

57 is the line-indicating finger, which is intended to extend straight across the paper beneath the line being copied, and the end of this finger has a bracket 52 bent forward and then outward against the arm 58 and provided with a screw which passes through the slot in this arm and receives a thumb-nut 53. By this means the indicating-finger can be set farther from or nearer to the rack, according to the thickness ofthe numerous sheets of the copy. The sleeve 56 moves up and down IOO on the shaft 43 and is held with gentle friction thereon by means of an internal rubber ring 54, as seen in Fig. 3.

In Fig. 4 is best seen the operative end of the shaft 43 and the lowermost bracket 42. At one side of the shaft bearing through` this bracket is formed a shoulder GO, and projecting from the shaft is a pin 61. A spring 62 is secured at one end to the bracket, and above the same is-coiled around the shaft and secured at its other end thereto, the pressure of this spring tending tomove the pin 6l past the shoulder 60, and thereby throw the various fingers onto the face of the copy. Yet when desired the operator can turn the knob 44, so as to swing all the ugers 01T the copy and then by raising the knob and shaft can engage the pin and shoulder to hold the fingers in that position.

All parts are of the desired sizes, shapes, proportions, materials, and ornamentation, and considerable change in the details of construction may be made without departing from the essential principles of my invention. While not at all so intended at the present time, it is clear that any form of rack might be substituted without destroying the utility of the support, or the rack herein described could be used in connection with a support of some other type. However, the device is extremely useful as a whole and in the manner shown in the drawings. In its customary use the clamp is attached to the rear or sides of the type-writer table. The telescopic arms project thence upward and forward or forward and downward (audit might be here remarked that the smaller upright 1l is axially adjustable under the set-screw l2 Within the tubular upright l) and the rack is held by the head adjacent the operator and in a position to support the copy at a point where it can be easily read. The rack can be adjusted horizontally by turning the upright arm 3l within the eye 32, and the rack can be ad justed on its pivot 35 in the manner above set forth. The copy is held by the gripperngers, and each page after having been copied is thrown over to the rear, as usual. The indicating-finger 57 is moved down the paper andY kept constantly beneath the line being copied. Having once become familiar with the device, the operator will be able almost instantly to throw the fingers forward and lock them there while the pages of the copy are being changed, after which a downward pull of the knob releases the pin from the shoulder and allows the spring to throw back the fingers against the paper. y The support possesses an advantageous characteristic aside from the longitudinal and axial adjustments of the telescopic members of both its arms and the pivotal adjustlnent between said arms, which characteristic is the fact that the end opposite the clamp has an eye into which the L-shaped member 30 ts removably. By this arrangement, rather than having the plate 37 attached directly to this end` of the support, the entire rack can be instantly detached from the support and removed when desired.

What I claim as new isi l. In a copy-holder, or the like, the combination with a support in two members, the first consisting of a tubular upright and a smaller upright adjustable longitudinally and rotarily therein, the second consisting of a tube with a smaller piece adjustable longitudinally and rotarily therein, disks at the meeting ends of the smaller upright and said tube, a bolt through the disks for permitting swinging adjustment of the second member in a vertical plane, and at the outer end of said smaller piece a head pierced with a transverse eye; of an L-shaped member whose Iupright arm fits said eye, a lug adjustable .pivotally in a vertical plane in the other arm Tof said member, and a rack carried by the glug, as and for the purpose set forth.

2. In a copy-holder, the combination with a substantially upright rack, brackets thereon, and a shaft journaled therein; of the gripperfingers fixed on the shaft, a sleevesurrounding the shaft, a rubber ring within this sleeve v forholding it frictionally in place, and an indicating-finger supported by the sleeve, as i and for the purpose set forth.

3. In a copy-holder, the combination with a substantially upright rack, a sleeve supported along one edge thereof, and means for turning the sleeve on its axis and adjusting it vertically; of an arm projecting from the sleeve at substantially right angles to the rack, an indicating-finger passing across the face of the latter, and connections between these parts for permitting the adjustment of the finger in a plane parallel with the rack, as and for the purpose set forth.

4. In a copy-holder, the combination with the rack, brackets thereon, and a shaft journaled therein; of a sleeve held frictionally on the shaft, a slotted arm projecting rigidly from the sleeve, an indicating-finger extending across the rack, a bracket thereon resting against the arm, and a setscrew passing through the slot in the latter and` into the bracket, substantially as described.

5. In a copy-holder, the combination with the rack, brackets thereon, and a shaftjournaled therein, of a vertically-movable sleeve splined on the shaft betweenithegripper-n gers, an arm projecting rigidly from the sleeve and standing normally in a plane substantially at right angles to that of the rack said arm being turned outward when the shaft is rotated, an indicator-finger extending across the rack, and adjustable connections between this finger and arm, as and for the purpose set forth.

6. In a copy-holder, the combination with the rack, brackets thereon, a shaft journaled therein and having a longitudinal groove, and the gripper-ingers carried by the shaft; of a vertically-movable sleeve splined on the shaft, a rubber ring within this sleeve hold- IOO IIO

ing it frictionally thereon, an arm projecting rigidly from the sleeve and standing normally in a plane substantially at right angles to that of the rack said arm being turned outward when the shaft is rotated, an indicatorfinger extending across the rack, and adjustable connections between this finger and arm, as and for the purpose set forth.

7. In a copy-holder, the combination with the rack, brackets thereon having bearings and the lowerinost having in its lower facea shoulder adjacent its bearing, ashaft mounted for rotation and longitudinal movement in the bearings and having a knob or the like, a piu'in this shaft below the lower bearing, and a spring turning the shaft normally in a direction to throw the pin against the shoulder; of fingers carried by the shaft and held thereby away from the rack when the spring is under pressure and the pin is engaged with the shoulder, as and for the purpose set forth.

of gripper-ngers fast on the shaft, a sleeve' splined on the shaft between said gripperfingers, and an indicating-finger carried by the sleeve, all the fingers being held away from the rack when the springis under pressure and the pin is engaged with the shoulder, as and for the purpose set forth.

JAMES W. HARSHA.

In presence of- C. C. SHEPHERD, C. M. Monnow. 

